A Pennsylvania Superior Court panel on Monday affirmed the sentences of life in prison given to two people who were convicted of the August 2016 murder of Penn State professor Ronald Bettig.
The court rejected arguments by George Ishler Jr. that his case should have been severed from that of co-defendant Danelle Geier because their defenses were at antagonistic; that the Centre County Court of Common Pleas erred in denying his motion to suppress a confession he said was made under duress; and that the court should not have allowed prosecutors to introduce text messages that included sexual comments.
Geier’s argument that their cases should have been severed also was rejected, as were her claims that she was denied due process when the trial court did not allow testimony from two psychologists about her mental state and that a new trial should have been ordered when the prosecution failed to disclose one of its witnesses had pending criminal charges.
President Judge Emeritus Kate Ford Elliott wrote that the trial court was warranted in denying their motions to sever because both had confessed to their involvement in Bettig’s murder and the jury was instructed to use each of their statements only against the individual who made it.
‘Moreover, the mere fact that there was hostility between the co-defendants’ defenses at trial and that they presented conflicting versions as to what transpired on the date of the victim’s death does not amount to ‘undue prejudice’ warranting separate trials,’ Ford Elliott wrote.
Ishler and Geier, his half-niece, were found guilty in April 2018 of first-degree murder, third-degree murder, aggravated assault and tampering with evidence. They were convicted of luring the 56-year-old Bettig, of Lemont, to a Potter Township quarry on Aug. 12, 2016, when Ishler pushed Bettig off a ledge, causing him to fall 75 feet to the ground below. They later returned to the quarry to plant items to make it appear Bettig had been there alone before reporting him missing three days later.
Prosecutors said the pair believed they would benefit financially from Bettig’s death.
Karen Muir, Ishler’s attorney, contended that Bettig jumped off the ledge in front of her client and that Ishler panicked. Deborah Lux, representing Geier, argued that Ishler acted alone and that Geier only became aware of what happened afterward.
Ishler, 43, is currently incarcerated at SCI-Coal Township. Geier, 35, is serving her sentence at SCI-Muncy.
